现在，我不打算站在这里告诉你们失败是有趣的。那段日子是我生命中的黑暗岁月，我不知道我会写出被新闻界称为“童话故事的革命”的作品。我也不知道自己还要在黑暗中走多久，不知道还要过多久才能看到希望的光芒而不是现实的黑暗。

　　So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finshing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

　　那么我为什么要谈论失败的收益呢？很简单，因为失败意味着剔除那些无关紧要的东西。因此我不再伪装自己，我把所有的精力倾注在对我来说最重要的事情上。如果我真的在其他领域取得了成功，或许我永远都不会下定决心在我确信真正发于我的舞台上取得成功。我得到了解脱，因为虽然我最害怕的事情已经发生了，但我还活着，还有一个我深爱着的女儿，一台旧打字机和一个了不起的想法。所以人生的低俗是我重新开始生活的坚实基础。

　　You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all--in which case, you fail by default.

　　你们也许不会败得像我这么惨，但人生中有些失败是不可避免的。人生中不可能没有失败，除非你们活得过于谨慎，这样倒还不如根本没在世上活过，因为在这种情况下，放弃尝试的权利就是你们最大的失败。

　　Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.

　　失败赋予我内心一种安全感。这种安全感是我无法从通过考试中获得的。失败让我了解了自己，这也是无法通过其他途径做到的。经历失败让我发现我有坚强的意志力，比我想象的更有自律性。我还发现，我拥有比宝石更加珍贵的朋友。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. strip away

　　剥去；剥下；揭去；

　　eg. Sensitive Cream will not strip away the skin's protective layer.

　　敏感肌肤专用面霜不会破坏皮肤表面的保护层。

　　eg. It is difficult to strip away the greasy dirt on the table.

　　要除去桌上的油污太难了。

　　2. set free

　　释放；解放；

　　eg. The general directed that the prisoners should be set free.

　　将军命令释放囚犯。

　　eg. The final verdict were inspiring. Irene were set free.

　　最初的裁定是鼓舞人心的，艾琳自由了。

　　3. rock bottom

　　最低点；最低水平；低谷；非常糟糕的状态；极度沮丧的处境；

　　eg. Prices have hit rock bottom.

　　价格跌到了谷底。

　　eg. She was at rock bottom. Her long-term love affair was breaking up and so was she.

　　她整个人跌至了谷底。她漫长的爱情要告结束了，她也要崩溃了。

　　4. might as well

　　只好（做）；（做…）也无妨；

　　eg. Anyway, you're here; you might as well stay.

　　反正你已经在这儿了，那就留下来吧。

　　eg. I'll come with you if you like. I might as well.

　　如果你想的话，我会和你在一起来。我无所谓。

　　5. by default

　　（事情的发生）自动地（因可能阻止或改变结果之事未发生）；

　　eg. Spassky won the first game, and was awarded by the second by default, when Fischer failed to put in an appearance.

　　斯帕斯基赢了第一局，又因菲舍尔第二局未能上场而再胜一局。

　　eg. It's hard to get money. It's not the sort of thing that happens by default.

　　获得资金并不容易，它不是那种你不作为就会发生的事情。